Zhao Min was silent for a moment.
Then she said, "The decisive battle has come. It's time for me to have a decisive battle with Zhang Wuji."
"The world has become such a mess, one of Zhang Wuji and I should die as soon as possible, otherwise, neither of us will be able to eliminate Zhu Yuanzhang."
"We still don't know where Zhang Wuji's troops are now, but judging by his speed, they should be here soon."
"However, Zhang Wuji's brain is far more extraordinary than that of an ordinary person. The fact that he dared to launch a sneak attack on Dadu shows that he is a person who does not play by the rules."
"General Wang, you must lead 20,000 troops back to Longcheng first to prevent that bastard Zhang Wuji from seizing my Longcheng before the decisive battle."
"If Zhang Wuji comes directly to Jinyang to fight me, you will lead your troops and attack him from behind at the right time."
"If Zhang Wuji attacks Longcheng first and then fights with me, I will annihilate him when he attacks Longcheng."
Wang Baobao said: "Your Majesty, only by concentrating our forces can we gain an absolute advantage. If we divide our forces, wouldn't it be inappropriate?"
Zhao Min smiled and said, "That's why I asked you to send 20,000 people back to Longcheng first."
"As a general, you have to consider everything carefully. Zhang Wuji never plays by the rules. Who knows what he will do next."
Wang Baobao said: "Well, then I will immediately mobilize 20,000 soldiers to go back to support Longcheng first."
Zhao Min nodded and said, "Let's do this. We just experienced a great battle yesterday. I will lead the army to stay in Jinyang first, firstly to rest for a few days, and secondly to observe Zhang Wuji's movements."
"As for the escaped Yang Xiao, he is just a small figure. As long as I am in Jinyang, even if I give him a hundred courages, he would not dare to think of taking back Jinyang."
…
Zhao Min had already made the arrangements, and the soldiers under her command also felt that this was the perfect approach.
Let’s look back at Yang Xiao at this moment.
At this moment, Yang Xiao wanted to die.
He was the first person to follow Zhang Wuji, and the worst defeat ever suffered happened at his hands.
Several hours have passed since last night's defeat. Yang Xiao has been fleeing and gathering the scattered soldiers along the way.
But up to now, he has only gathered more than 20,000 people.
One day they lost Jinyang and also the Crown Prince. Yang Xiao is a martial artist. Although he is a general now, he also values brotherhood.
He slowly drew out the long sword from his waist, thinking to himself, "Your Majesty, it is me, Yang Xiao, who has let you down."
"I can only repay your kindness in the next life."
As he spoke, Yang Xiao was about to commit suicide by slitting his throat.
Fortunately, he still has many loyal soldiers around him.
A guard quickly grabbed Yang Xiao's wrist and said, "General, General, you can't do that."
Yang Xiao's action scared the fleeing soldiers around him.
The guard continued, "General, we have finally escaped death. Now, His Majesty has not yet unified the world. The only way for you to continue to serve His Majesty is to remain useful."
Yang Xiao said with tears in his eyes: "How can I have the face to see His Majesty again? Your Majesty trusted me so much and handed the entire Hexi into my hands. I lost Jinyang, lost more than 100,000 soldiers, and lost the prince. I might as well die."
Yang Xiao exerted all his strength again and swung the sword in his hand towards his neck.
But at this time, more than a dozen soldiers had already held his body tightly, and two or three people were holding Yang Xiao's sword-holding arm tightly.
A young general said to Yang Xiao: "General, calm down. We were defeated badly in this battle, but you must stay alive."
"Now, His Majesty is not in Hexi, Madam Zhou, the Queen, and many generals are also not here. In the whole Hexi, you have the highest official position. If you don't die, Hexi can still gather some combat power. If you die, Hexi will probably become a mess in an instant."
After hearing this, Yang Xiao seemed to think that there was some truth in it. The big mistake had been made and the defeat could not be changed, but at least there was still a chance to minimize the losses.
Yang Xiao temporarily had some plans to survive, but the grief in his heart was indelible. After all, he lost the battle so miserably that he lost everything, including what he should and shouldn't have lost.
Endless sadness instantly filled Yang Xiao's entire heart.
He could bear it no longer and suddenly burst into tears.
A man in his forties would only cry like this when he is extremely sad.
The crying sound immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding soldiers.
The scene brought back sad memories, and all the soldiers around began to wail.
This was the first major defeat in Yang Xiao's life, and also the first major defeat since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.
It was not until half an hour later that the crying sounds gradually stopped.
Many soldiers gathered around Yang Xiao again, and one of them said to Yang Xiao: "General, now is not the time to be sad. You should make a decision. Now that things have come to this, instead of being heartbroken here, you might as well do something useful."
Yang Xiao was silent for a while and said, "What should we do? What can we do now? We can only lead the soldiers who broke out to Daxing. Jinyang has been taken away by Zhao Min. If she wants to take over the entire Hexi, the next target must be Daxing."
"There are only a few thousand soldiers guarding Daxing City now. If Zhao Min attacks forcefully, she will definitely capture it."
The general said: "That's right, let's rush to Daxing as soon as possible. Zhao Min has just fought a great battle. Although we lost 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, Zhao Min will probably need a few days to rest. We should rush to Daxing as soon as possible and then strengthen the city defense in preparation for another battle tomorrow."
…
With an endless sense of decline, Yang Xiao led more than 20,000 remaining soldiers under his command and rushed to Daxing without stopping.
At this moment, Zhang Wuji was still heading straight to Longcheng without stopping.
Zhao Linger had tried her best to hide her worry about her son, but Zhang Wuji could still see the uneasiness and fear in her brows.
At this point, Zhang Wuji didn't know what to say to comfort Zhao Linger.
In comparison, Zhou Zhiruo was actually very uneasy.
Even though she always opposes Zhao Linger, she treats Xiao Yuxiao as her own son. If anything happens to Xiao Yuxiao, she will spend her whole life cutting Zhao Min into pieces.
The three of them were in sync with each other, and no one mentioned Xiao Yuxiao deliberately. However, Zhou Zhiruo, who rarely spoke out on military matters, suddenly said, "According to our current speed, we should be able to reach Longcheng by the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. Are you ready, Zhang Wuji?"
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